Sixers competing, but best is yet to come

PHILADELPHIA – They’ve played seven games, of the toss-the-ball-up, between-the-lines variety. Yet the 76ers’ identity has not been forged.

Likely, they will win more games than they will lose and improve steadily as the season progresses. That’s a Doug Collins team, even with eight bodies that weren’t wearing red, white and blue a year ago.

Still, the on-court character that will define the Sixers won’t reveal itself through actual gameplay. Rather, it will come with the finality of the Andrew Bynum waiting game.

The Sixers have a diamond in the rough in Bynum, a physically gifted menace in the middle who – when healthy – will relegate space in the nearest rubbish receptacle for opposing teams’ gameplans. He will make the Sixers a better team than they are. As they stand, they are a second-place ballclub.

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Waiting until January, or when Bynum’s personal physician or the team’s doctors clear him for basketball-related activities, however, is not prudent. The Sixers know that.

So do they have enough to contend without Bynum? Are there enough horses in the stable to keep everything afloat until Bynum takes his first, pain-free steps in a Sixers uniform – possibly on that West Coast swing around the holidays?

Bynum thinks so.

“The team looks phenomenal out there,” the 7-footer said Monday, not-so-appropriately while standing at his locker, putting weight on that bum leg of his. “They really bounced back after (two losses to) New York and went on the road and took care of business. We have a good homestretch here, five games coming up. If we take care of that, we’ll look pretty good.”

Without having played a game, Bynum’s name somehow found its way onto the NBA All-Star ballot, which was unveiled Tuesday. That could be a harbinger for these next few sentences.

The Sixers, when Collins’ puzzle pieces are aligned properly, are an effective bunch.

Despite Jrue Holiday leading the league in turnovers, he’s third in assists. Despite Evan Turner’s shaky shooting, he’s refined other aspects of his game to turn in all-around efforts. Despite Nick Young’s allergy to cautious shooting, he knew enough to look for his teammates Monday night, turning in more assists (four) than baskets (two). Despite Lavoy Allen’s sophomore slump, well, let’s leave that for another day.

The challenge for Collins – though it’s been present since training camp – has been in assembling a winning team with what’s in the cupboard. Yes, the Sixers knew Bynum’s bad knees would limit him, but they couldn’t have known in the offseason that he potentially would be sidelined through December.

The Sixers planned accordingly, or so they thought, trading away Andre Iguodala and trading for Bynum, improving their lineup. What they did was cast away their best on-the-ball defender and leave no one to take his place – a fact you could ignore with Bynum in the mix. And believing they had upgraded their presence in the paint, they signed only Kwame Brown, who’s found a home in both the injury report and on the bench.

“I’m still trying to figure this out,” Collins said, of his Bynum-less conundrum. “When you do a crossword puzzle, like I like to do, you have no resistance of the puzzle. You’re just trying to beat the puzzle. When you’re trying to put a team together, you’re trying to put personalities and talents and everything together and have it segue into this smooth thing. Preseason looked a lot prettier. Now when you get to scheming and doing the things you’re doing, it gets tougher.”

The Sixers have committed more words to Bynum than minutes played with him. The guy has watched more practices than he’s participated in. And all the press clippings in the world couldn’t possibly replicate the feel or the chemistry that comes from playing alongside a teammate.

“We’ve never really played with him, so every night we go out, that’s the team that we’re rolling with,” Spencer Hawes said. “As much as we’re looking forward to him coming back, the team we’ve got is what we have to go with.”

And what they’ve got is boundless hope – that they’re good enough to compete until Bynum’s good enough to play.